Franchise Focus

Pizza Inn franchisee shares leadership insights, advice on growing a franchise

Dion Firooznia transitioned from a 40-year career in corporate restaurant leadership to become an award-winning Pizza Inn franchisee, leveraging multi-unit growth incentives to expand to five locations while prioritizing consistent service and internal talent development.

Photo: Pizza Inn

May 7, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

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Dion Firooznia's 40-year journey in the restaurant industry began with a frontline role as an hourly employee at Carl's Jr., but it was always fueled by a long-held dream of franchise ownership that once felt financially out of reach.

After climbing the corporate ladder to become a regional vice president for Bojangles and an operating partner for Qdoba, Firooznia finally secured his opportunity with Pizza Inn in late 2021. Two years later he was awarded the 2023 Franchisee of the Year and Developer of the Year. Today he's busy expanding his five-restaurant portfolio while honoring the deep-rooted nostalgia and local history that define the Pizza Inn experience.

Dion Firooznia. Photo: Pizza Inn

The chief operating officer of Pizza Inn is a personal friend of Firooznia and talked him into acquiring a Pizza Inn in Elizabethon, Tennessee, in Dec. 2021. Since then he's opened another four across North Carolina and Virginia.

Firooznia said he was not familiar with the brand initially because there were no Pizza Inns in his region. He began doing research and visited a few franchise outlets.

"The food, the service — that's what kind of got me going. I've always had the dream to be a franchisee. I've always worked for corporate America, and it was always a goal, but I was never able to afford the startup cost on any of the well-branded companies, for example, McDonald's or even a Bojangles," Firooznia said in an phone interview. "I just did not have the capacity to be able to do that. And they wouldn't franchise in the core market of North Carolina or South Carolina, so it would have meant going to emerging markets and that was a little risky for me."

He credits Pizza Inn CEO Brandon Solano for coming up with incentives for multi-unit operators, including four- and six-store plans. Firooznia inked a six-store deal with Pizza Inn. As a result, the brand waved some of the costs and reduced royalties and marketing, making it more affordable for prospective franchisees.

From the ground up

Firooznia began his career in restaurants as an hourly works at Carl's Jr. One lesson he learned is that he's not afraid to do anything that his lowest paid employees do, whether that's cleaning restrooms or greeting guests at the door. He said he treats his employees the way he wants to be treated.

"I've had some really, really good bosses over the last 40 years and I've had some terrible ones. And you can learn from both, especially the bad ones because this really bothers me so let's make sure I don't do that when I become a supervisor or responsible for a certain amount of employees," Firooznia said.

Going from corporate America to taking on an ownership role was a bit of a culture shock for Firooznia, who said "you pay everybody else and what's left is yours. So, for example, we just had a pretty harsh month of winter storms here, and so the challenges of paying everybody, most importantly your employees, and paying your sales tax and everything else, that's kind of that's the most challenging part. When you work for a corporation, you never think about that."

Franchisees play many roles, Firooznia said, from human resources to repair and maintenance. Though he owns five of his own restaurants, he's opened more than 80 in his career lifetime. He said it doesn't get easier the more you open, especially the first couple of weeks. As a regional VP, he'd go to every opening and try to be there the first seven days to support his team.

As an owner, he said, you have to ensure every employee knows his or her job. The owner is also responsible for building a strong management team.

Firooznia has a director of operations who helps him out significantly.

Photo: Pizza Inn

Consistency and growth

How does Firooznia balance Pizza Inn's need for growth with the micro-need to maintain quality in every store? He signed a six-store deal, so he must grow by opening one restaurant a year.

"The majority of our development and future leaders are within because we know all the habits of every person versus going outside," Firooznia said. "We're still looking outside to see if there's any talent that would fit the culture we're trying to create, but the majority of our success is creating it from inside and the more they understand what our goals are, the easier it makes to attain that level of good service in each location."

Consistency of the service and delivering quality food is paramount to success. Firooznia said the Elizabethton, Tennessee, Pizza Inn has been in business for more than 50 years. It has a loyal following, and people who grew up eating at that Pizza Inn are now bringing their children and grandchildren there.

Pizza Inn's internal training programs work well, Firooznia said, and he focuses on harmony and hard work. He expects the same out of a dishwasher as he does a manager. He and his executive team make both announced and unannounced visits to the stores, as does Pizza Inn's corporate franchising team.

Pizza Inn is a heritage brand with a loyal fan base, and franchisees are expected to remodel their restaurants to keep them modern. That bright, clean look should carry through to the brand's popular buffet.

Firooznia said the most common mistake he sees new franchisees make when moving from their first until to their second is spreading themselves too thin.

"There's a lot of new franchisees that basically manage one restaurant and then they think that they can basically manage both restaurants themselves and being able to train the right people and hold them accountable and utilizing the people around them to develop," Firooznia said, adding franchisees sometimes don't hire a second person to help while opening a second or third unit.

"Compensation is a piece they're trying to save money on this end and not pay and then they end up losing it on the other end by lost revenue or increased food or labor cost."

Firooznia said if he could go back and tell his younger self something, it would be to work hard and be loyal.

"The biggest jump and the hardest jump in in corporate America is obviously the pyramid; as you go up it's less and less people needed at the top going from restaurant manager, district manager, area director, whatever you want to call it is easier, way easier, right? Because there's so many of that, but then the next step whether it's a director of operations or regional VP that's a tough one, and that's the one where you need a little luck, the right person believing in you and then even working harder," Firooznia said. "For me it's always been you don't go home until the work is done. Most of the time you're on salary so whether you work 40 hours or 60 hours you get paid the same, but you don't go home until the work is done."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the Pizzamarketplace.com and QSRweb.com editor for Connect Media. An award-winning journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and, yes, she can tell you where to find the best pizza slices in the country.

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